Edible spreads from vegetable oils



United States Patent 2,754,213 EDIBLE SPREADS FRoM VEGETABLE OILS Edwin P. Jones and Earl R. Lancaster, Peoria, 111., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture No Drawing. Application December 11, 1953, Serial No. 397,799

6 Claims. (Cl. 99-123) (Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), see. 266) A non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license in the invention herein described, for all governmental purposes, throughout the world, with the power to grant sublicenses for such purposes, is hereby granted to the Government of the United States of America.

This invention relates to the manufacture of an oleaginous spread of the general character of margarine. It relates particularly to the manufacture of an oleaginous spread having a wide temperature range of plasticity or spreadability, and having other improved physical properties, especially those affecting organoleptic acceptance.

Oleaginous spread such as butter, margarine or the like have the common disadvantageous property of becoming liquid or semi-liquid at the higher atmospheric temperatures prevailing in warmer climates, and commonly encountered in temperate climates during summer. They also tend to become so hard as to be unspreadable at temperatures below about 40 F. These latter temperatures are commonly encountered over a large portion of the globe for the greater part, if not all of the year.

In application Serial No. 283,745, filed April 22, 1952, by Edwin P. J ones, Herbert J. Dutton and John C. Cowan, now Patent No. 2,718,468, issued September 20, 1955, a composition is disclosed which has a wide range of spreadable plasticity. This prior spread, for example, may be readily spread upon bread at temperatures of about 20 F., yet it has a firm consistency at temperatures above 100 F.

The spreads, made in accordance with the disclosure of the aforementioned application frequently show some grammess in texture, especially on storage. They also have a tendency to cling to the mouth, i. e. they have disadvantageous get-away characteristics. The term get-away as used in this application relates to the rate of disappearance in the mouth. The get-away of butter is good, since it disappears almost as soon as put in the mouth. The property of get-away may be evaluations by comparing the mouth-feel of a given sub stance with that of butter.

This invention relates to certain procedures and ingredients which we have found to improve the get-away of oleaginous spreads such as certain of those described in the application previously mentioned.

The practice of (1) the presence of a phosphatide of a type and proportion which will be hereinafter discussed in detail and (2) a heat treatment of the phosphatide containing in the spread the desirable physical properties heretofore mentioned. The effect of one of these factors, alone, will not ordinarily produce the desired properties. i

of this invention involves the combina For example, effect of the eliminating of die phosphatide ingredient in spreads is illustrated below. Likewise elimination of the heat treatment is shown to result in spreads having one or more undesirable physical properties.

In general, the manufacture of the spread character- This point is reached usually at a temperature at about F. or lower. It may be as high as F., the important feature being the formation of microcrystals.

As thus prepared, the oleaginous spread develops a poor mouth-feel and poor get-away.

We have discovered that heat treatment or tempering of the prepared product modifies its physical structure in such a way as to render its texture completely smooth and to improve the to that of butter. This heat treatment, it will be understood, should be carried out upon the product containing the phosphatide, particularly in formulations containing over 13 percent monoglyceride, for the combinationof the two factors lead to the success of the treatment. Even in the absence of the phosphatide, however, the heat treatment does have some beneficial effect, but it is not nearly as striking or permanent. Another, and important, feature of our invention is that the desirable plas ticity of the oleaginous spreads containing phosphatides is retained upon storage for long periods of time, whereas spreads which do not contain phosphatides tend to become hard and lose plasticity.

The heat treatment consists of heating the product in open or sealed cans or other suitable containers at a temperature of 90 to 140 F. for a period of 3 to 48 hours, the higher temperature corresponding to the shorter time.

The formulations comprise 70 to 90 percent edible glyceride oil, 9 to 30 percent fat acid monoglyceride and one-tenth to 2 percent phosphatide. They also include salt, color, flavor, preservative, and vitamins. They may or may not contain a fat acid ester of a polyalkylene glycol, as disclosed in the aforementioned copending application. The edible oil used may be soybean oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, corn oil, safliour oil, and the like and the glyceride ester may be glyceryl monostearate,

than about 8 percent diglyceride based on monoglyceride, Thus,

appears to nullify the effects of our treatment. spreads containing mixtures of monoglyceride and diglyceride in which the diglyceride is novel treatment.

The phosphatides may be refined soybean phosphatide,

soybean lecithin, corn lecithin or phosphatide and the like. The quantities of salts, flavor, color and the like, of course, depend upon the properties desired in the final product.

The preferred conditions of our process are to use to percent edible glyceride oil such as soybean oil, cottonseed 011, or peanut oil, 9 to 19 percent glyceryl mono- F. for a period of 12 to 48 hours.

In the followm the novel efiect of the combination of the phosphatide Patented July 10, 1956' and after mixing is.

get-away to a score almost equal more than 8 percent of the diglycerides do not respond so favorably to our examples data will be givenshowing' i 3 factorand the heat'treatment. The get-away evaluations appearing in the tables were determined. by a. panel of experienced analytical tasters. The score assigned is based upon a score for butter, the higher score corresponding to: the poorer get-away.

I The penetration measurements were made with an A. SQT. M. precision universal penetrometerequipped with. a. standard size and standard shape penetration cone. The spindle and cone were. made. of aluminum, so that the total weight was.26-.gms. Spreads having a penetration of over. 6. mm. are. spreadable,wvhereas those having penetrations greaterthan 20 mm. are relatively soft. The desirable rangewas found to:be -20 mm. for the best spreading characteristics.

The; equipmentused. for preparing our spread consisted of a jacketed mixing kettle of 2 gallons: capacity, a means for introducing. nitrogen into the material as. it is drawn to: a. pump, a gear pump,v a Votator coolingunit. and provision for. canning under. nitrogen. The cylinder of the Votatorwasconstructed of nickel with plastic: scraper blades. Other equipment was. stainless steel..

The constituent materials. for preparing a. spread. are. shownin Table I below. They were added. to the mixing kettle, heatedto about 170 F. and then pumped to the Votator from which the spread issued in a fluid stream. There was no pressure valve on the discharge side of the Votator and the material flowed readily and. evenly into containers. After. a few minutesthe mass began to harden.

TABLE 1' Composition of. spread The pump usedv was a Zenith gear pump with a capacityof 12 gallons per, hour. diameter. chamber with 90 square inches .ofheattransfer area and, operating under these conditions at the above rate,. it was not necessary to employ refrigeration. cool. ing water at 60." F. was adequate for chillingto the point of crystallization.

Table. 11 gives the. operating conditions for. atypical pilot-plant run. It may be calculated. from these data that the heat transfer coefficient inthe V'otator. is nearly. 200. Under-the conditions described, the Votator is. operated at only about percent of its. maximum. capacity. The. change in enthalpy for a. typical. global. spread between 161 Rand 75F. is 65.3 B..t. u./pound.under conditions of rapid chilling. From theoretical considerations this indicates that little, if. any crystallization of the. oil. componentqccursrfor example, as-an eutectic with the mono.- stearate fraction.

TABLE II Operation conditions. for preparing. spread ina pilot-plant unit Temperature of; cooling water into Vo-- tator 64.7-" F. Temperature of cooling water out of" Votator. 665. Temperature of. spread into Votator 161. Temperatureof spread out of Votator 75.

FlOW-FIBIB: of cooling water 2,540 lbs. /hour. Flowrate. of spread 70.0 Fox/hour; Speed of Votator rotor 670 R; P. M. Heat'transfer area '8'9'.2sqz-in'.

The. Votator. had a. 3-inch 4 Preliminary tempering tests of these spreads were con ducted in air circulating ovens. adjusted at 90 F., 112 F., and 130 F. Penetration measurements were made after 1% hours, 3 hours, and 24 hours at these temperatures. After completion of the tempering period samples were removed from the oven and periodic determinations of penetration were continued under 75 C. storage until the samples apparently assumed constant firmness, usually in about 100. hours. An untempered or control sample was heldat 75 F. and-penetration values were determined for a similar length of time. Final penetration values reported in the tables below are obtainedv as described above except as otherwise specified.

The results of organoleptic and penetration tests indicated that the same tempering phenomena were occurring under the three experimental temperatures selected butat difierent rates. Since our novel spreads contain more than percent liquid vegetable oil, tempering should be carried out under mild conditionsso as to minimize the development of undesirable flavors. We selected the intermediate temperature of 112 F. as the temperature of tempering in most of the following examples. It is to be understood, however, that the heat treatment will be successful. atv any temperature within the designated range of-140" F.

Table III lists penetration data and get-away scores'of several spreads made upwith winterized cottonseed salad oil as: the glyceride oil and the distilled monoglycerid'es of. completely hydrogenated lard as the monoglyceride, i. e. without the phosphatide ingredient. The data are presented here for comparison purposes. Reference to the table shows, for example, that the 13. percent mono-- glyceride spread when freshly made had a penetration value, of 29.7 mm..which on standing hours at 75 F. had dropped to 16.3 mm. On tempering at 112 F; the plasticity progressively increased to 21.1 mm., 22.8 mm., and 25.3. mm. after 1-. hour, 3v hours, and 24 hours, respectively. The. 24-hour. tempered sample, 100 hours after removal from the oven, hardened to 18.5 mm., and the organoleptic sample was given. an excellent get-away score of 1.0; In. view of the'satisfactory get-away of this spreadit would seem that it was of'a satisfactory compo-- sition. However, when the product was stored. for extended periods of time the penetration decreased, and the get-away score was adversely, aifected.

TABLE III Untempered Penetration at Tempered 24 hours penetration. 112 F. afterat 112 F.

at 75 F. Percent "Monoglycerlde 7 Final "Initial Final 1 3 24- penetra- Getaway hour hours hour tionat. 7 score The influence of monoglyceride content isvshownby the. increase in initial-v and finalfirmness of 'theuntempered control as wellas:the finalfirmness of the-tempered sample. Samples. containing over 15- percent monoglyceridebecame. progressively firmer; during their: retention in the tempering oven.

The. following examples; show; the eflect of: the presence.

The data in Table IV show that get-away score and maximum penetration fall within the 12-hour to 48-hour tempering period, and that the undesirable increase in firmness usually caused an increase in getaway score after 1 month to 2 months storage at 112 F. In contrast, non-phosphatide containing spreads develop these undesirable characteristics in a much shorter period of time.

TABLE IV T empering spreads containing 17% monoglyceride and 0.2% phosphatide Tempering time at 112 F., days Getaway Penetration, score mm.

In another series of tests the phosphatide was varied in spreads of Table I. The spreads were tempered 24 hours at 112 F. and then held 100 hours at 75 F. whereupon final penetration values were determined. The spreads showed a progressive softening with increasing amount of phosphatide up 0.2 percent phosphatide. Concentrations above 0.2 percent did not show further significant softening. Get-away scores improved with increasing phosphatide concentration and leveled off at about 0.2 percent. The results are shown in Table V.

TABLE V The efiect of phosphatide concentration on penetration and getaway of spreads containing 18% monoglyceride Table VI shows the effect of our treatment on spreads of varying concentrations of monoglyceride.

TABLE VI The efiect of variable monoglyceride content on penetration and getaway at 0.2% phosphatide The get-away scores referred to in the various tables in this specification were obtained by a panel of 15 experienced analytical tasters. For scoring, a 9-point balanced scoring system was adopted containing as the ideal score. The degree of deviation from the ideal was determined and scored on the basis of 4 units above and 4 below. Even though this system would require that scores inferior to the ideal to negative, and those superior,

reported herein as positive values. This is done to avoid the confusion of carrying a negative sign. Moreover, all scores, based on butter as the ideal for get-away and flavor, have been negative.

positive, all scores are Comparative evaluations were made using three commercial margarines, an Army margarine formulation, and the spreads of this invention. The spreads, designated in Table VII as A, B, and C were prepared in accordance with Tables I and II above and were tempered at 112 F. for 24 hours.

The results of the comparisons of get-away are summarized in Table VII. Included also in Table VII are penetration data measured at 75 F. and at 34 F. The penetration measurements at 34 F.,were made using a 93-gram load in the Penetrometer instead of the 26-gram load. 7

TABLE VII Average getaway scores for spreads No. of Aver- Penetration Spread panel age evaluascore tions 75 F. 34 F.

Butter 2 12 20. 2 1. 8 Margarine A" 8 14. 0 2. 0 Margarine B 6 1. 4 9. 3 2. 0 Margarine 0.- 8 1. 0 16.1 1. 7 Spread A 5 1. 4 14. 6 10.1 Spread B--. 8 83 17. 4 13. 9 Spread C 5 1. 1 17. 4 14.0 Army margarm 4 3. 0 11.7 1. 5

The spreads made according to this invention find use for other food purposes. They may be blended with other oleaginous materials for the purpose of making blended spreads. However, the blended spreads do not possess the Wide range of plasticity of our novel spread. Table VIII presents a variety of blends in accordance with this feature of the invention. The spread used for blending was prepared in accordance with Table I and II, followed by tempering at 112 for 24 hours.

TABLE VHI Spread mixtures 1 Penetrations at 34 26-gram spindle.

In the foregoing table the column headed Acceptability Score represents general organoleptic acceptance. The scoring was made by a panel of experienced analytical tasters, and the score was arrived at by taking into consideration such factors as consistency, flavor, mouthfeel, get-away and related physical properties which aiiect all-around acceptance of the spread. The scoring was made with 0 as the ideal on an 0 to 4.0 scale.

We claim:

1. The process comprising admixing 70 to percent edible glyceride oil, 9 to 30 percent fat acid monoglyceride and 0.1 to 2.0 percent phosphatide at a temperature above the melting point of the mixture of ingredients, cooling said mixture rapidly to the point of formation of microcrystals, and subjecting said cooled mixture to a temperature of 90 to F. for a period of 3 to 48 hours.

2. In a process for making an edible oleaginous spread which comprises admixing 70 to 90 percent edible F. with a 93-gram spindle and at 75 F. with a glyceride oil, 9 to percent; fatacid monoglyceride and 0.1 to 2.0 percent. phosphatideat a temperature; above. of mixture of ingredients and. rapidly the melting point cooling the mixture to the point'of formation of microcrystals, the step which comprises subjectingsaid cooled mixture to a temperature. of 90 to 140 F. for aperiod of 3 hours to 48 hours.

3. The process comprising, admixing about 80 to '90- percent cottonseed oil, 9 to 12 percent distilled monoglycerides of completely hydrogenated lard and. 0.1. to

0.4 percent. soybean phosphatides together with minor proportions of salt, flavoring and antioxidants at a temperature above the melting point of the mixture-,of in gredients, rapidly cooling-the mixtureto F. andsubjecting the cooled mixture to. av temperature -of.,100 to 120 F. for a period of 12 to 48 hours.

4. The process comprising admixing about to percentsoybeansalad oil, 9 to 19 percent distilled, glyceryl monostearate and- 0.1 to 0.4 percent soybean phosphatides' together with minor proportions of salt, flavoring and antioxidants at a temperature above the melting point of the mixture of ingredients, rapidly cooling the mixture to 75 F. and subjecting. the cooled, mixture to a temperature of ,1 00

5. Product of the process of claim 3.

6. Product of the process of claim 4.

References Cited-in the filev of this patent V UNITED STATES' PATENTS 1,965,142 Hall et al July 3, 1934 1,984,470 Farrell Dec. 18, 1934 2,280,427 Thurman Apr. 21, 194-2 2,402,690 Stanley June 25, 1.946

to F. for a periodof l2to 48 hours. 

1. THE PROCESS COMPRISING ADMIXING 70 TO 90 PERCENT EDIBLE GLYCERIDE OIL, 9 TO 30 PERCENT FAT ACID MONOGLYCERIDE AND 0.1 TO 2.0 PERCENT PHOSPHATIDE AT A TEMPERATURE ABOVE THE MELTHING POINT OF THE MIXTURE OF INGREDIENTS, COOLING SAID MIXTURE RAPIDLY TO THE POINT OF FORMATION OF MICROCRYSTALS, AND SUBJECTING SAID COOLED MIXTURE TO A TEMPERATURE OF 90* TO 140*F. FOR A PERIOD OF 3 TO 48 HOURS. 